Sarnath
One Of The Four Principal Buddhist Pilgrimage Sites; On UNESCO'S Tentative List; Home Of The Lion Capital Of Ashoka · Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
The deer park ten kilometres from Varanasi where the Buddha is said to have given his first sermon after his enlightenment, setting the wheel of the teaching in motion, and so one of the four most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites. The emperor Ashoka raised monuments here in the third century BCE, and his polished pillar was topped by the lion capital that is now India's national emblem; it stands in the small Archaeological Museum on site, which is closed one day a week. The largest surviving monument is the Dhamek Stupa, a solid cylinder of stone and brick about forty metres high from around the fifth century, with carved floral bands. Around it lie the excavated foundations of monasteries, and nearby the Mulagandha Kuti Vihara, a temple built in 1931 with Japanese murals of the Buddha's life, and temples built by Thailand, Tibet, China and Japan. The Chaukhandi Stupa marks where the Buddha met his first disciples. After the noise of Varanasi's ghats, Sarnath is shaded, green and calm, and it is a short trip that works well as a half day from the city.
Dharmapala Road, Sarnath, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, 221007, India
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED; confirm before planning. The typical pattern: the excavated site and the Dhamek Stupa are open daily from sunrise to sunset; the Archaeological Museum keeps shorter daytime hours and closes one day a week (commonly Friday; check); the Mulagandha Kuti Vihara and the national temples keep their own hours, usually with a midday closure. A sound and light show has run in some seasons. The trap is arriving on the museum's closing day and missing the lion capital.